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He looked over at her and shook his head. “No. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so adamant about setting up this place and having a home.”

“At some point I’m sure you’ll want a family of your own.”

He smiled at her. “I don’t want to take that off the table at this time, but it’s not as if I’ve really considered it, not ever having had a serious relationship before.”

“I’m not sure you’ll have time for it either now,” she noted, as she stared around at the chaos going on around her. “This is an absolutely wondrous thing happening here.”

“It is, and I am incredibly grateful.… I look around and still can’t quite believe how much we’ve accomplished.”

“It’s amazing,” she muttered, as she watched the men work.

“It’ll be much calmer next week,” Timber shared.

“How so?”

“A lot of the men will be leaving, but some—and I don’t know exactly how many—will be coming back on Monday and staying for another week,” he explained. “So that’ll be a huge help too.”

“I can’t even imagine, and the fact that these men are out here doing this for you, for the animals…” She felt the tears choking her up.

He slung an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, you’re not allowed to cry.”

“Why not?” she asked. “If you won’t let yourself cry about it, I have to.”

He looked at her and then smiled. “My mom used to say something like that every once in a while.”

She nodded. “My mom did too. She used to say that we were all such tough guys that if we wouldn’t open up our hearts enough to be the people we needed to be, then she would have to do the crying for us.

She was adamant that, somewhere along the line, there must be that emotional release.

I tried to get her to understand that her releasing it didn’t make it any easier on us, and she used to laugh and say, Somebody has to, and apparently I am it . ” Tiffany smiled at the memory.

“And your mom now?”

“She died of breast cancer a few years back,” she replied. “About three years ago, I guess. It was kind of at that point where I was deciding, do I buy the business or do I not? Do I go home, or do I accept I have nothing to go home to?”

“No family left?”

“No.… I guess I’m kind of like you in that way. It’s such a weird thing when you realize you are now an orphan and all alone in this world.”

“I hadn’t considered it from that point of view,” he noted.

“Yet it is the point of view of truth,” she declared. “Just… such a weird understanding when you get there, that it’s you against the world.” She looked down at her watch and winced. “Oh, gosh. I’ve already stayed way longer than I expected to tonight.”

He nodded. “You look a little tired.”

“Yeah, I had some difficult surgeries today. I’m hopeful on the one but the other one? We had to put the other one down, and it’s never easy to do that.”

“Right, and I think that’s always the hardest part, particularly if it’s one you’ve been working on for a long time.”

“Exactly, and I’ve been keeping this one alive for a long time,” she said.

“I was hoping maybe you would bring some dogs out if you had some looking for homes,” Timber mentioned. “Maybe some of these guys might take a liking and adopt some.”

“I was wondering about that, and we did discuss it. I just didn’t want to add to the chaos, and God knows there’s a few—I say a few with facetiousness in mind.”

He laughed, then nodded in agreement. “There is no such thing as a few rescues, but if you have a couple good candidates, you are welcome to bring them out.”

“I do have a couple,” she stated, “and maybe more than a couple that could come out. I could always bring a truckload tomorrow and see. It’s Saturday, and I don’t have anybody staying in the clinic needing care, so I could come out a little earlier.”

“And you’ll just wither away and get completely worn out because you’ll go right back and do surgeries on Sunday.”

“Not on Sunday,” she stated. “I’m free and clear on Sunday.”

At that same time, George, the electrician she had been speaking to earlier, walked over and added, “If you’re coming back here tomorrow, I could use a hand refining some of the details as I get into it.”

She immediately nodded. “Done, I was thinking of coming back tomorrow anyway. I might even bring out a few dogs that need to be adopted.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell my wife you’re doing that. She feels the need to pick up every damn stray she comes across.”

“And that’s because the strays need women like her,” Tiffany pointed out, with a smile.

“I know, but, if I tell her more animals need adopting, she’ll make a trip out here herself,” he grumbled.

She laughed. “So, does that mean you don’t want to see them?”

“We’re kind of partial to pugs,” he admitted, “but I’m as much of a sucker as she is. So, I’m listening to you with both trepidation and hope because, well, we love animals too.” With that, he shook his head, muttered something about his wife, and left again.

“So, I guess I am coming out tomorrow, but where would I put the animals though?” she asked, as she looked around. “We ought to figure that out before I haul them here.”

“We have a temporary enclosure over here, and a couple guys brought their dogs,” Timber added. “So maybe we can work something out.”

She walked over, took a look, and nodded. “Yeah, these are all healthy animals, so that would work.”